Whether you deem it the bold move GM Craig MacTavish talked about, the Edmonton Oilers today made their most substantial move of this off-season, acquiring left winger David Perron from the St. Louis Blues for Magnus Paajarvi and a draft pick.

The Oilers get Perron, 25, who has 198 points in 340 NHL games with the Blues, including 10-15-25 in 48 games this season. In exchange, St. Louis gets Paajarvi, who was selected 10th overall by the Oilers in 2009, and a second-round draft pick.

Perron, six feet and 200 pounds, has three years remaining on a contract that pays him $3.5 million next season and carries a cap hit of $3,812.500 for the balance of the term.

More to come.

FROM THE OILERS

News release: "General Manager Craig MacTavish announced today the Edmonton Oilers have acquired left wing David Perron from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for left wing Magnus Paajarvi and a 2nd round selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

"Perron, 25, has spent the past six seasons with the St. Louis Blues organization, registering 198 points (84G, 114A) and 232 penalty minutes in 340 games with the Blues.

"In 2012-13, the 6'0", 205-pound, forward recorded 25 points (10G, 15A) and 44 penalty minutes in 48 games with St. Louis. He added two assists in six playoff games.

"The native of Sherbrooke, Quebec played junior hockey in the QMJHL with the Lewiston MAINEiacs for one season, registering 83 points (39G, 44A) in 70 games leading all rookies in the league that season in goals.

"Perron was originally selected by St. Louis in the 1st round, 26th overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft."

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I think he's saying they treated Paajarvi like a spare part, not that Perron is one.

And Setoguchi makes 3M, less than Perron, so that's not why.

Simply, Winnipeg took advantage of a team against the cap and got a player for cheap. We didn't gamble on someone beating us on an offer for Perron and paid top dollar for him.

Perhaps, if we waited we could have fleeced St. Louis for Perron like Winnipeg did for Setoguchi, or maybe some other team outbids us for him like NYI did on Clutterbuck and we don't get our guy at all.

So I'm fine with the value of the move because there's no guarantee we could have got Perron for less although it is a possibility.

This is fair.

I disagree because I believe this team's most desperate need and biggest weakness is on defence. If we gamble away our assets on slight improvements to our forwards it cripples our ability to improve the back end. It was a bad, big, gamble.

I disagree because I believe this team's most desperate need and biggest weakness is on defence. If we gamble away our assets on slight improvements to our forwards it cripples our ability to improve the back end. It was a bad, big, gamble.

Does our defense need an improvement? Not as much as some may think, but yes. Truth is: Ference is good but he's basically a stop-gap between now and Klefbom/Nurse/J.Schultz/Marincin to step in to actually make defense a position of strength. You want defense? Be patient; it's coming up the pipelines.

Just an hour or two ago that very site had him listed at 5'11" 196 (or 193) pounds.

Wow, the Oilers must have made sure this change was made (St. Louis or the NHL didn't care before). He just gained an inch and 10 pounds in an hour.

Why the difference? Exactly the reason as we are writing this. Imagine the Oilers sending out a press release saying they got a player officially 'listed' at 5'11" and 193 lbs. - meaning maybe even smaller than that, we all know.
The fan base wouldn't be happy with us getting smaller AND giving up a 2nd round pick. Instead they muddy the waters by putting out that he is over that mark.

Haha okay that is hilarious, the Oilers work fast. I saw the same 5'11 listing too lol. I do think the guy is 200+ though, seems like a bigger guy whenever I see him on the ice.

I like how people think they are expert negotiators for trades in the NHL "we could have done it straight up and then we gave away our 2nd". I would think that a team could offer something better then just Paajarvi for Perron. Lets not over value guys here, everyone hopes that Paajarvi becomes a complementary 2nd liner and if he is a good 3rd liner everyone is happy, Perron IS a 2nd liner and is only 3 years older, I will gladly throw in a 2nd rounder in TWO years for a player that is already better and only 25.

If we're waiting a few seasons before we can truly be competitive it makes no sense to send away Pajaarvi and a 2nd for Perron.

Quite frankly, Pajaarvi has as good of a chance of becoming a legit second line forward as any of those guys has of becoming a top four defenseman. Probably much better than Marincin by everything I've heard.

I wouldn't have bothered bitching if it had been a 5th or 4th to sweeten the deal. Even a 3rd would have kept me from posting, but a 2nd? Real, good, NHL players get traded regularly for 2nd round picks straight up every season.

Paajarvi's sh% is better but Perron's corsi rel is better. Not a bad trade but giving up that 2nd round pick makes me a little nervous. Hopefully Perron's compete level is high & he develops chemistry with his new team mates.

Finally we got him , after passing on him with Nash and Plante . What a talent ! Put on one of the best performances by any player in a Memorial Cup I've seen . This kid can really excite and dazzle . Pleasant surprise . You like Gagner , then you'll love this kid . Book it -signed ,sealed and delivered . Things just took a turn for the better .

You've probably never saw him play ,you copy and paste some blurb and think he plays center in the NHL.

TSN has him listed Perron as both LW/RW and he does shoot right so that's a natural spot. Non-hockey players worry too much about that.....personally I know myself, would prefer to play with a winger that I have chemistry with and play my off-wing than on a line without chemistry.

And I like Yak-RNH-Perron, it evens out the top two lines and Gagner shows he can excel with Hall and Eberle

Didn't take me long to warm up to this deal, but I'm an eternal optimist with this team, I suppose.

But I think I will miss Paajarvi the person a lot more than I'll miss Paajarvi the player. This is a serious upgrade, at least as far as "right now". Paajarvi has potential, but who knows if he'll reach it and how long that will take. It sucks losing character players though. I think most fans really took a liking to him.

David Perron will be a great player for this team though, and provides much more of what we need than Paajarvi has, even in year 1. I think much of this has to do with Paajarvi being passed by everyone in our top six currently. I think on a new team he could find that game we all think he has in him though. I hope he does well in STL, but I believe we'll have no regrets. Perron makes the team better and we can't keep hanging on potential, or guys who have great personality.

If we're waiting a few seasons before we can truly be competitive it makes no sense to send away Pajaarvi and a 2nd for Perron.

Quite frankly, Pajaarvi has as good of a chance of becoming a legit second line forward as any of those guys has of becoming a top four defenseman. Probably much better than Marincin by everything I've heard.

You clearly missed the point of what I was saying.

When I say Ference is a stop-gap, that means the team is competitive while the prospects develop. He closes the space between the team sucking and waiting for the defense to mature.

Grabo has a lot that The Oilers need. I don't know why MacT isn't jumping all over that but maybe he tried. Maybe Grabovski doesn't want to go to Edmonton?

Rumor has it that he's enjoying his honeymoon, and not giving much attention to contract negotiations at the moment. He just got paid in advance for 4 years work, so he's probably just taking his time.

I disagree with the statement that Grab's has a lot the oilers need. Having watched a lot of leafs games, I don't see him as a very tough competitor. I've seen him give up in battles in the corners more than I've seen him commit. I don't think the Oilers are looking for just guys with grit, but guys who show up and work their butt off every night. Grab's doesn't fit that bill to me. I think Gag's is much better at this. He may have some crappy nights, but he's still giving everything he's got, and teammates tend to notice that and step up their own games to help.

I wouldn't have bothered bitching if it had been a 5th or 4th to sweeten the deal. Even a 3rd would have kept me from posting, but a 2nd? Real, good, NHL players get traded regularly for 2nd round picks straight up every season.

Good bye MPS. Jury is still out but you might delevope into a regular in the NHL someday. Potential is not a starter.
Perron is a known quanty and will get a chance to play with two hard working, highly skilled players and I would expect better numbers from him.
Good trade, as much as i was cheering for MPS to become a player.

I always thought the Oilers should have drafted Perron instead of Gagner.

That they also passed on Perron to select Alex Plante and Riley Nash was incredibly stupid.

As it sits right now, STL still has 15 NHL quality forwards on their roster (if you include Ty Rattie) so Paajarvi will be very low down the totem pole.

STL is planning to move Sobotka to LW so their LW depth is:

Alex Steen

Jaden Schwartz

Vladimir Sobotka

Chris Porter

Paajarvi

They also have Dmitirij Jaskin in the pipeline and he managed to score 46G and 99P in only 51GP in the Q last season.

I wouldn't be surprised if Paajarvi ends up back in Sweden before too long unless he can win a 4LW job with the Blues.

Scwartz had 13 points last year, Sobotka is a 3rd/4th liner, even if he puts up good points, which he doesn't, Porter couldn't even crack a PPG in college, and you have all 3 ahead of a player who, if you made a case, could be seen as better than all three.

Who doesn't score in the Q? Esp 20 year olds.
He wouldn't end up in Sweden either, maybe the AHL, and why would the Blues give up Perron just to let Paajarvi go back to Sweden?

I wouldn't have bothered bitching if it had been a 5th or 4th to sweeten the deal. Even a 3rd would have kept me from posting, but a 2nd? Real, good, NHL players get traded regularly for 2nd round picks straight up every season.

Yeah but Mac t doesn't make much sense. On draft day he trades away 2nd round pick for late draft picks. So nothing he has done makes sense. Instead of keeping that 2nd pick in a draft where we coulda got an NHL player we trade for depth ad get minor league guys that will never see ice time in an nhl team. So obviously he doesn't care about 2nd round picks. Those 4th and 5th are what matters........makes no sense

It's a good move for the Oilers, Perron comes from a franchise that quickly turned a rebuild around.

He is another outside voice within the dressing room, that will hopefully be able to help instill a winning culture.

He's only 25 FFS!? Yes, MPS has great potential.. but Perron is currently the far superior player.. if MacT doesn't put the 2nd on the table.. another team walks in and does. We then lose out, and you all cry and whine DSF's styles.

Yeah but Mac t doesn't make much sense. On draft day he trades away 2nd round pick for late draft picks. So nothing he has done makes sense. Instead of keeping that 2nd pick in a draft where we coulda got an NHL player we trade for depth ad get minor league guys that will never see ice time in an nhl team. So obviously he doesn't care about 2nd round picks. Those 4th and 5th are what matters........makes no sense

I'd take Perron everyday of the week over Setoguchi. You really want to add Setoguchi to the locker room? There is a reason more then money that he was offloaded. Twice.

Grabo has a lot that The Oilers need. I don't know why MacT isn't jumping all over that but maybe he tried. Maybe Grabovski doesn't want to go to Edmonton?

So the Oilers need a guy who is 20 lbs lighter, plays less minutes, can't kill penalties, plays soft, and not know as a good guy in the room.
In the last 6 seasons, Sam has 50 more pts in only 20 more games.

Only advantage is a 7% improvements FO draws over past 2 years.

Grabovski is NOT the type of centre the Oilers need if they trade Gagner as it would be a step backwards

Mactavish is making up for some of the past regimes' mistakes. Trading for a player that we passed over twice (being realistic, he would have been a reach at 6 given what was known at the time). Trading a former 10th overall pick and a 2nd rounder for a former 26th overall pick.

Perron is a legitimate 2nd line player and plays a power forward style. Paajarvi has many solid qualities but offence doesn't come natural to him. This move really gives us an exceptional, albeit young and inexperienced, top 6. This move also leaves us extremely thin on offence in the bottom 6 (especially assuming that we move Hemmer). That speaks to the lack of depth that Mactavish inherited. I doubt that Mactavish is done.

I always liked Paajarvi. He accepted his role and worked hard. Best of luck to him in St. Louis.

Great move. Perron is as good as I ever hoped Paajarvi would be. This is like fast forwarding MPS' development 3 yrs and being guaranteed that he pans out.

Top six are filled out. Hemsky will be traded to fill out the bottom six. If that goes well, we are definitely improved on compared to last year. Playoffs? Probably not, but maybe... I'll wait and see how the hem sky trade goes.

Great move. Perron is as good as I ever hoped Paajarvi would be. This is like fast forwarding MPS' development 3 yrs and being guaranteed that he pans out.

Top six are filled out. Hemsky will be traded to fill out the bottom six. If that goes well, we are definitely improved on compared to last year. Playoffs? Probably not, but maybe... I'll wait and see how the hem sky trade goes.

Filling in the top six lw spot was the hardest thing macT had to do this summer. That's done.

Filling in the rest of the bottom 6 will be easy. Sign Morrow and trade Hemsky for a third liner plus a draft pick. Ference, Gordan, Perron all hate to lose and compete every shift, these guys will have a huge impact on the team this year.

I always thought the Oilers should have drafted Perron instead of Gagner.

That they also passed on Perron to select Alex Plante and Riley Nash was incredibly stupid.

As it sits right now, STL still has 15 NHL quality forwards on their roster (if you include Ty Rattie) so Paajarvi will be very low down the totem pole.

STL is planning to move Sobotka to LW so their LW depth is:

Alex Steen

Jaden Schwartz

Vladimir Sobotka

Chris Porter

Paajarvi

They also have Dmitirij Jaskin in the pipeline and he managed to score 46G and 99P in only 51GP in the Q last season.

I wouldn't be surprised if Paajarvi ends up back in Sweden before too long unless he can win a 4LW job with the Blues.

You wanted to draft Perron instead of Gagner?? Your a complete idiot!

So you wanted to draft a guy 6th overall who didn't even get drafted the year before when he was draft eligible so was an over ager and scored 83 points in 70 games when Gagner scored 118 pts in 53 games and played at the World Juniors? But you probably think Gagner would have only scored 30 pts if he wasn't on Kane's line right??

Quit talking out of your butt all the time. your probably pissed that the Oilers passed on Datsyuk and Zetterberg in the first round in '98 and '99 when they actually went in the 6th and 7th round.

You just keep telling yourself that your smarter than everyone else until the men in white coats come give you meds for the night.

Oilers win the trade today, maybe not in the future. Maggie will have a good career, he's got lots of upside.

If MacT can manage to get an NHL bottom 6 forward for Hemsky I'm going to be mightily impressed.

Perron - RNH - Eberle

Hall - Gagner - Yakupov

Me likey!

I think the I'll like. Just getting over my Nichuskin denial first. Just thinking.we could of had Ebs Hall, Yakcity Nicky, Perron Hemsky wingers. This forward group could of been lightning in a bottle. Screw defence like Philly. 9-6 games every night.

So the Oilers need a guy who is 20 lbs lighter, plays less minutes, can't kill penalties, plays soft, and not know as a good guy in the room.
In the last 6 seasons, Sam has 50 more pts in only 20 more games.

Only advantage is a 7% improvements FO draws over past 2 years.

Grabovski is NOT the type of centre the Oilers need if they trade Gagner as it would be a step backwards

Before Grabbo was Carlyle'd, arguing whether Gagner or Grabbo was a silly debate. Gagner is a better offensive 5x5 and powerplay guy now.

Grabbo can check, corsi numbers and underlying number use to be very positive. Grabbo is faster, can get on a forecheck, can hit on forecheck, is better in the faceoff dot, has defensive awareness .

Fighting may go to Gagner, hes a good scrapper. Still love the time he embarrassed Kesler, stood in their against Beauchemin, fought both Jokinen and Conroy if I recall. Not sure who Grabbo has on the fight.card. I'd take a.flyer on grabbo for a couple years.

I am in support of this move as it is significant and a correct one... I love Paajarvi (who may be cheaper now) but he is a hush puppy...

I want more Bull dogs on the Oilers than those like hush puppies. Perron is only 25 yrs old, he's gritty and is of solid good two way play, he can skate, can score points, is a very good PK guy too.

Yeah he is not a 6'3" 220 power forward but as of today....The Oilers Got Even Better!!!!

There is more to do with possible trades (I suspect Hemsky, Gagner, N. Schultz being up and front with draft picks/prospects) but I like the toughness and two way team that is being built now...

I still hopefully think that a trade package deal for Couturier or B. Schenn...with Coburn...may be possibl done.... but it will cost something to get em!!! Now, if these type guys come here from Philly and the Oilers don't give too much back (Not one of Hall/Ebs/RNH/Yak/J. Schultz/Klefbom)Wow!!!

Yeah I was kinda overrating Grabovski, my bad. He does however face the opposing teams top line most of the time so at least he can compete. BTW I like Gagner I just think he is a valuable trade asset.

Haha okay that is hilarious, the Oilers work fast. I saw the same 5'11 listing too lol. I do think the guy is 200+ though, seems like a bigger guy whenever I see him on the ice.

Different sites have had him listed at different weights... the NHL.com site has him at 6'0 and 205 pounds... Yer a moron if you think any NHL team can change the numbers there. Stop drinking so much of the koolaid...

This gives the Oil the 2nd line winger they need. In my mind MPS has had three seasons to show that he can play like a 6'3 220lb guy, and hasn't done it. Perron plays like that kinda player without the size. Don't get me wrong, MPS could turn into a dynamite player and I hope he does well in St. Louis, but he didn't do enough here. And don't feed me crap about not getting enough chances. Just because you don't play on the top two lines doesn't mean you can't bang and crash on the 3rd line, and he never did that. Not sure how much of that he did in OKC, but his first year here, the small part of his 2nd year and last year's shortened season did nothing to prove to me he can play that banging power forward winger style of game that the Oil need. And if Perron doesn't fit the bill then we have three years to find someone else.

Pure hockey trade. About damn time. The 2nd rounder is nothing... whats the percentage of them that turn out? 15% or something. Good deal for both teams. The Oilers D will be fine this year as well.

This is the type of "risk" Mac T was talking about when he took over, Tambo was too scared to trade anyone because of what they might end up being instead of trying to make the team better, could Paajarvi develop into a 2nd liner? Ya sure but that is exactly what Perron is. I think this classifies as BOLD.

As for the 2nd rounder hopefully in 2 years that second rounder is around 50+ so I don't really care, that pick is at least 5 years away from cracking the NHL if ever.

Paajarvi's sh% is better but Perron's corsi rel is better. Not a bad trade but giving up that 2nd round pick makes me a little nervous. Hopefully Perron's compete level is high & he develops chemistry with his new team mates.

This is wrong Rocket.

Perron SH % is 13.8 very respectable

Paajarvi is 7.8 % and got a bit of a boost last year, or it would be around 5.5 to 6.0, which is not at all good.

To those who got issues with size between MPS and Perron...Not that much difference!!!!!!!!

Its the Bull Dog (Perron) versus the Hush Puppy (MPS)!!!! I want toughness who can score and if ya can add agitator then great.

MPS is developing and still developing and who can be absolute he would be a top LW player in the next years... while Perron has shown himself for of the type of player he is and right now....he is farther ahead of MPS and better than MPS!!!

As for the concussion issues??? Yeah he has had some and yeah he recovered but...but...it is true that anyone can get these in any future game no matter whether they had concussions before or not. There is also a chance he may not ever get one again too (unlikely but who knows).

Now MacT is down to two to three more moves of SIGNIFICANCE...Yahoo I like the new players so far... Keep them coming MacT!!!!

Totally. Getting Grabovski doesn't mean The Oilers have to get rid of Gagner anyway. Why not have them both?

Grabbo competes, thats what I like. Someone said Gagner competes more then him. Yikes. Gagner has been questioned about consistancy in the past, and a case could still be made that because he gets destroyed defensively he still has compete issues. He can only play only one way. Scared stiff to commit to him for 5x5 mil.

After watching Grabbo in Montreal and then TO, theres a reason he survived through 3 GM's. Guys a warrior. When Calgary got spare parts for Phaneuf, theres a reason he did no go. Grabbo competes on both ends. I in no way saying boot Gagner get Grabbo, but your no worse for wear if you did it, especially if you could.use Gagner to get a better player.

I thought when MacT was nuthugging Gagner when he took over the regime, I thought it was too boost trade value. My gut told me they will work the phones to move him at the time. Think I was wrong. Would love to see what kinda fish you could get for him if you could sell high.